Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I will try to summarize everything that has been said here this morning.
First, Mr. Storey talked about missions to China in which Canadian industries have participated. You also mentioned the automobile pact with Korea, which will soon affect you personally. You also talked about tax credits. With regard to credits, we know that we need them to make profits, but that without profits, they are useless.
Moreover, I said that we were going to overwork the word “innovation”. It’s all very well to talk about innovation, but first there has to be some. However, the most important issue and one that comes up all the time is the protection of intellectual property. As far as I am concerned, I believe that the problem has been created out of nowhere. We are trying to create it on one hand and solve it on the other. The fact remains that it is always the same ones who pay, that is, Canadian taxpayers. With regard to the missions to China, the federal government is paying so that industrial entrepreneurs can try to find a way to reduce their costs by having their products manufactured in China.
Mr. Storey told us that we would become distributors. During another mission to China organized by the federal government, the client will find the same supplier, who will be completely eliminated and be directly integrated with Chinese suppliers. This means that a business that employs 40 people is completely eliminated. Under these conditions, the supplier will also be eliminated. There will be problems on that side as well.
With regard to intellectual property, I do not know if a bill could resolve certain issues. We have to find a way of protecting innovations and the creation of new products. As a lawyer, Mr. Hrastovec, you know that fighting such cases can involve enormous costs. I do not believe that industries can afford to protect their intellectual property on an international scale.
The government is taking us to China. We are trying to find out how we can, financially speaking, preserve the industry here in Canada. Actually, it is always the same money we are spending left and right: taxpayers’ money. We create a problem, then we try to solve it, but the root of the problem is a result of what we are doing here.
I would like to have your comments on all aspects of today’s discussions.